Data Centre Standard

GOVERNMENT ICT STANDARDS
Data Centre Standard
First Edition 2016
The ICT Authority is a State Corporation under the State Corporations Act 446
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©ICTA 2016 All rights reserved

Data Centre Standard ICTA-2.001:2016
Data Centre Standard

First Edition 2016
ICTA 2016- All rights reserved
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Contents
ICTA STANDARDS DESCRIPTION 4
DOCUMENT CONTROL 6
FOREWORD 7
INTRODUCTION 8
SCOPE 8
APPLICATION 8
NORMATIVE REFERENCES 9
DEFINITIONS 10
ABBREVIATIONS 16
SUB- DOMAINS 17
REQUIREMENTS 17
Data Center Site Space and Layout 17
Cabling Infrastructure 17
Tiered Reliability 17
ANNEXES 18
ANNEX A.1 Requirements for Data Center Site space and Layout 18
Annex A.2: Tiered Reliability and Accessories 19
Annex A.3: Cabling Infrastructure. 20
Annex A.4: Environment and Ambience 22
APPENDIX 24
Appendix 1: Compliance checklist for Site space and layout 24
Appendix 2: Compliance checklist for Tiered reliability 24
Appendix 3: Compliance checklist for cabling Infrastructure 25
Appendix 4: Compliance checklist for Environmental consideration 26
APPENDIX 5: Tiered Reliability 27
Appendix 6: Related Documents 28
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ICTA STANDARDS DESCRIPTION
S/No Thematic Area Standards Brief Description

1 Infrastructure ICTA-2.001:2016 Provides compliant requirements for design,
Network Standard installations and management of all categories
of IT Networks to be deployed in government.
ICTA-2.001:2016 Provides compliant requirements for design,
Data Center Standard installations and management of government
data centers
ICTA-2.001:2016 Provides compliant requirements for design,
Cloud Computing installations and management of cloud
Standard computing infrastructures for government
ICTA-2.001:2016 Provides the minimum specifications for
End-User Equipment all computing devices being deployed in
Standards government
2 Systems & ICTA-6.001:2016 Provides compliant requirements for
Applications Systems & design, installations and management of
Applications Standard all government Software and applications
Systems.
3 IT Security ICTA-3.001:2016 Provides compliant requirements for design,
Information Security installations and management of Information
Standard Technology Security in government.
4 Electronic ICTA-4.001: 2016 Provides compliant requirements for
records Electronic records and management of government electronic records
management Data Management and data
Standard
5 IT Governance ICTA. 5.001: 2016 Provides compliant requirements for IT
IT Governance Governance in government. This includes
Standard compliance requirements for government IT
service providers and Professional Staff.
6 ICT Human ICTA.7.001:2016 Provides compliant requirements for
Capacity ICT Human Capacity development of Human Capital capacity for
Standard deployment and support for government ICT
infrastructure and services.
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REVISION OF ICT STANDARDS
In order to keep abreast of progress in industry, ICTA Standards shall be regularly reviewed.
Suggestions for improvements to published standards, addressed to the Chief Executive Officer,
ICT Authority, are welcome.
©ICTA, 2016
Copyright. Users are reminded that by virtue of Section 25 of the Copyright Act, Cap. 12 of 2001 of
the Laws of Kenya, copyright subsists in all ICTA Standards and except as provided under Section
26 of this Act, no Standard produced by ICTA may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system in any
form or transmitted by any means without prior permission in writing from the CEO.
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DOCUMENT CONTROL
Document Name: Data Centre Standard

Prepared by: ICTA Data Centre Standard Technical Committee
Edition: First Edition
Approved by: Board of Directors
Date Approved: 11th August 2016
Effective Date: 1stOctober 2016
Next Review Date: After 3 years
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FOREWORD
The ICT Authority has express mandate to, among others, set and enforce ICT standards and
guidelines across all aspects of information and communication technology including systems,
infrastructure, processes, human resources and technology for the public service. The overall
purpose of this specific mandate is to ensure coherence and unified approach to acquisition,
deployment, management and operation of ICTs across the public service, including state agencies,
in order to promote service integration, adaptability and cost savings through economies of scales
in ICT investments.
In pursuit of achievement of this mandate, the Authority established a Standards Committee to

identify the critical standards domain areas as well as oversee the standards development process.
A total of Nine Standards falling under six different domain areas were identified by the committee
to be relevant for government ICT Standards. The development of all the identified standards was
done through a process which took into consideration international requirements, government
requirements, stakeholder participation as well as industry/sector best practices. In order to
conform to the format of other existing national standards, the committee adopted the Kenya
Bureau of Standards (KEBS) format and procedure for standards development. In addition, through
Memoranda of Understanding, KEBS has made invaluable contribution to the development of ICT
Authority standards.
The ICTA Data Centre Standard, which falls under the overall Government Enterprise Architecture
(GEA), has therefore been prepared in accordance with KEBS standards development guidelines.
The Authority has the oversight role and responsibility for management and enforcement of this
standard. The review and approval of the standard is done by the ICTA Board upon recommendation
of Standard Review Board. The Authority shall be carrying out quarterly audits in all the Ministries,
Counties, and Agencies (MCA) to determine their compliance to this Standard.
The Authority will issue a certificate of compliance to agency upon completion of the audit
assessment. For non-compliant agencies, a report detailing the extent of the deviation and the
prevailing circumstances shall be tabled before the Standards Review Board who will advise on
action to take.
All government agencies are required to ensure full compliance to this standard for effective and
efficient service delivery to the citizen.
Kipronoh Ronoh P.
Director, Programmes and Standards
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INTRODUCTION
The data center is home to the computational power, storage, and applications necessary to support
an enterprise business. The data center infrastructure is central to the IT architecture, from which
all content is sourced or passes through. Proper planning of the data center infrastructure design
is critical, and performance, resiliency, and scalability need to be carefully considered.
All government data centres are expected to provide enough capacity to support all the necessary IT
functions of government. The principal goals in data centre design are flexibility and scalability, which
involve site location, building selection, floor layout, electrical system design, mechanical design
and modularity. The advent of new technologies, such as blade servers, that require substantial
incremental power and cooling capacity; the pressure to consolidate multiple data centres into
fewer locations; the need for incremental space; changes in operational procedures; and potential
changes in safety and security regulations converge to impose constant facilities changes on the
modern data centre. Data centre standards will look at the best possible ways of setting up a data
centre for government use.
This will involve the design of the data centre, arrangement of equipment, operating conditions,
security procedures and practices as well as any other requirement that would go into coming
up with a modern and efficiently operational data centre. The data centre infrastructure should
therefore be robust enough to support large amounts of data flow that government handles and
efficient enough to ensure continues service availability. The conditions in the data centre should
also be ideal to support the optimal operations of its infrastructure while the management of the
data centre should also be easily adaptable to the current and future government operations.
In order to design, build and operate an efficient data center, there is need to have guidelines
that offer the industry acceptable specifications. This section outlines these guidelines that will be
adopted by the government to ensure that it reaps the maximum benefits associated with it data
centre operations.
SCOPE
These guidelines are grouped into the following domains:
• Physical Security
• Cabling layout
• Space Planning Layout
• Air Conditioning and Room Temperature
• Data center monitoring and management
• Data centre infrastructure management
APPLICATION
This standard will be applicable to the following:
v Central Government of Kenya
v County Governments
v Constitutional Commissions
v State Corporations
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NORMATIVE REFERENCES
The following standards contain provisions which, through reference in this text, constitute provisions
of this standard. All standards are subject to revision and, since any reference to a standard is
deemed to be a reference to the latest edition of that standard, parties to agreements based on
this standard are encouraged to take steps to ensure the use of the most recent editions of the
standards indicated below. Information on currently valid national and international standards can
be obtained from Kenya Bureau of Standards.
ANSI/TIA-569-c
TIA 492
TIA-569-c.1
ANSI/TIA-568-c.1
ISO/IEC 60793
IEEE 802.3
IEEE 802.1
IETF RFC 3457
IETF RFC 2709
IETF RFC 1518
IETF RFC 1918
P710-S710 Rev 3.0
ISO/IEC 27002
ISACA
IEEE P2302 (Draft copy)
NIST SP 509-292
IETF internet-draft, “Cloud Reference Framework”
Disposal act Nema
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DEFINITIONS
Network
A collection of computers and other hardware interconnected by communication channels that
allow sharing of resources and information
Access floor
A system consisting of completely removable and interchangeable floor panels that are supported
on adjustable pedestals or stringers (or both) to allow access to the area beneath access provider:
The operator of any facility that is used to convey telecommunications signals to and from a customer
premises.
Administration
The method for labeling, identification, documentation and usage needed to implement moves,
additions and changes of the telecommunications infrastructure.
Backbone
1) A facility (e.g., pathway, cable or conductors) between any of the following spaces:
Telecommunications rooms, common telecommunications rooms, floor serving terminals,
entrance facilities, equipment rooms, and common equipment rooms.
2) in a data center, a facility (e.g. pathway, cable or conductors) between any of the following
spaces: entrance rooms or spaces, main distribution areas, horizontal distribution areas,
telecommunications rooms.
Backbone cable: See backbone.
Bonding
The permanent joining of metallic parts to form an electrically conductive path that will ensure
electrical continuity and the capacity to conduct safely any current likely to be imposed
Cabinet
A container that may enclose connection devices, terminations, apparatus, wiring, and equipment.
Cabinet (telecommunications)
An enclosure with a hinged cover used for terminating telecommunications cables, wiring and
connection devices.
Cable
An assembly of one or more insulated conductors or optical fibers, within an enveloping sheath.
Cabling
A combination of all cables, jumpers, cords, and connecting hardware
Centralized cabling:
A cabling configuration from the work area to a centralized cross-connect using pull through
cables, an inter-connect, or splice in the telecommunications room.
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Channel
The end-to-end transmission path between two points at which application-specific equipment is
connected
Common equipment room (telecommunications)

An enclosed space used for equipment and backbone interconnections for more than one tenant
in a building or campus.
Computer room
An architectural space whose primary function is to accommodate data processing equipment.
Conduit: (1) A raceway of circular cross-section. (2) A structure containing one or more ducts.
Connecting hardware
A device providing mechanical cable terminations
Consolidation point
A location for interconnection between horizontal cables extending from building pathways and
horizontal cables extending into furniture pathways
Cross-connect
A facility enabling the termination of cable elements and their interconnection or cross-
connection
Cross-connection
A connection scheme between cabling runs, subsystems, and equipment using patch cords or
jumpers that attach to connecting hardware on each end.
Data center
A building or portion of a building whose primary function is to house a computer room and its
support areas
Demarcation point
A point where the operational control or ownership changes
Earthing
see grounding
Electromagnetic interference
Radiated or conducted electromagnetic energy that has an undesirable effect on electronic
equipment or signal transmissions.
Entrance room or space (telecommunications)

A space in which the joining of inter or intra building telecommunications backbone facilities
takes place.
Equipment cable; cord

A cable or cable assembly used to connect telecommunications equipment to horizontal or
backbone cabling.
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Equipment distribution area

The computer room space occupied by equipment racks or cabinets
Equipment room (telecommunications):

An environmentally controlled centralized space for telecommunications equipment that usually
houses a main or intermediate cross-connect.
Fiber optic: See optical fiber.
Ground
A conducting connection, whether intentional or accidental, between an electrical circuit
(e.g., telecommunications) or equipment and the earth, or to some conducting body that serves in
place of earth.
Grounding
The act of creating a ground
Grounding conductor
A conductor used to connect the grounding electrode to the building’s main grounding bus bar.
Horizontal cabling
The cabling between and including the telecommunications outlet/connector and the horizontal
cross-connect. 2) The cabling between and including the building automation system outlet or the
first mechanical termination of the horizontal connection
Point and the horizontal cross-connect

In a data center, horizontal cabling is the cabling from the horizontal cross-connect (in the main
distribution area or horizontal distribution area) to the outlet in the equipment distribution area or
zone distribution area.
Horizontal cross-connect
A cross-connect of horizontal cabling to other cabling, e.g., horizontal, backbone, equipment.
Horizontal distribution area

A space in a computer room where a horizontal cross-connect is located.
Identifier
An item of information that links a specific element of the telecommunications infrastructure with
its corresponding record
Infrastructure (telecommunications)
A collection of those telecommunications components, excluding equipment, that together
provides the basic support for the distribution of all information within a building or campus.
Interconnection
A connection scheme that employs connecting hardware for the direct connection of a cable to
another cable without a patch cord or jumper
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Intermediate cross-connect
A cross-connect between first level and second level backbone cabling.
Jumper
An assembly of twisted-pairs without connectors, used to join telecommunications circuits/links
at the cross-connect.
Link
A transmission path between two points, not including terminal equipment, work area cables, and
equipment cables
Main cross-connect
A cross-connect for first level backbone cables, entrance cables, and equipment cables.
Main distribution area

The space in a computer room where the main cross-connect is located.
Mechanical room
An enclosed space serving the needs of mechanical building systems
Media (telecommunications): Wire, cable, or conductors used for telecommunications.
Modular jack
A female telecommunications connector that may be keyed or unkeyed and may
have 6 or 8 contact positions, but not all the positions need be equipped with jack contacts.
Multimode optical fiber

An optical fiber that carries many paths of light
Multipair cable
A cable having more than four pairs
Optical fiber
Any filament made of dielectric materials that guide light.
Optical fiber cable

An assembly consisting of one or more optical fibers
Patch cord
A length of cable with a plug on one or both ends.
Patch panel
A connecting hardware system that facilitates cable termination and cabling administration using
patch cords.
Pathway
A facility for the placement of telecommunications cable
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Plenum
A compartment or chamber to which one or more air ducts are connected and that forms part of
the air distribution system
Private branch exchange

A private telecommunications switching system
Pull box
A housing located in a pathway run used to facilitate the placing of wire or cables.
Radio frequency interference

Electromagnetic interference within the frequency band for radio transmission.
Screen
An element of a cable formed by a shield.
Screened twisted-pair (ScTP)

A balanced cable with an overall screen
Service provider
The operator of any service that furnishes telecommunications content
(Transmissions) delivered over access provider facilities.
Sheath: See cable sheath
Shield
A metallic layer placed around a conductor or group of conductors.
Single-mode optical fiber

An optical fiber that carries only one path of light
Single mode optical fiber: see single-mode.
Splice
A joining of conductors, meant to be permanent.
Star topology
A topology in which telecommunications cables are distributed from a central point
Telecommunications
Any transmission, emission, and reception of signs, signals, writings, images, and sounds, that is,
information of any nature by cable, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems.
Telecommunications entrance point: See entrance point (telecommunications).
Telecommunications entrance room or space: See entrance room or space
Telecommunications equipment room: See equipment room (telecommunications).
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Telecommunications infrastructure: See infrastructure (telecommunications).
Telecommunications media: See media (telecommunications).
Telecommunications room
An enclosed architectural space for housing telecommunications equipment, cable terminations,
and cross-connect cabling.
Telecommunications space: See space (telecommunications).
Topology
The physical or logical arrangement of a telecommunications system
Uninterruptible power supply

A buffer between utility power or other power source and a load that requires continuous precise
power
Wire
An individually insulated solid or stranded metallic conductor
Wireless
The use of radiated electromagnetic energy (e.g., radio frequency and microwave signals, light)
traveling through free space to convey information
White space
Empty space that can accommodate future racks or cabinets
Zone distribution area

A space in a computer room where a zone outlet or a consolidation point is located
Zone outlet
A connecting device in the zone distribution area terminating the horizontal cable enabling
equipment cable connections to the equipment distribution area
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ABBREVIATIONS
AH - authority having jurisdiction
ANSI - American National Standards Institute
AWG - American Wire Gauge
BICSI - Building Industry Consulting Service International
BNC - bayonet Neil-Concelman or bayonet navel connector
CCTV - - closed-circuit television
CEC - Canadian Electrical Code, Part I
CER - common equipment room
CPU - central processing unit
CSA - Canadian Standards Association International
DSX - digital signal cross-connect
EDA - equipment distribution area
EIA - Electronic Industries Alliance
EMI - electromagnetic interference
EMS - energy management system
FDDI - fiber distributed data interface
GEA - Government Wide Enterprise Architecture
HC - horizontal cross-connect
HDA - horizontal distribution area
HVAC - heating, ventilation and air conditioning
IC - intermediate cross-connect
IDC - insulation displacement contact
TIA-94218
LAN - local area network
MC - main cross-connect
MDA - main distribution area
NEC - National Electrical Code
NEMA - National Electrical Manufacturers Association
NEXT - near-end crosstalk
NESC - National Electrical Safety Code
NFPA - National Fire Protection Association
OC - optical carrier
PBX - private branch exchange
PCB - printed circuit board
PDU - power distribution unit
PVC - polyvinyl chloride
RFI - radio frequency interference
RH - relative humidity
SAN - storage area network
ScTP - screened twisted-pair
SDH - synchronous digital hierarchy
SONET - synchronous optical network
STM - synchronous transport model
TIA - Telecommunications Industry Association
TR - telecommunications room
UL - Underwriters Laboratories Inc
UPS - uninterruptible power supply
UTP - unshielded twisted-pair
WAN - wide area network
ZDA - zone distribution area
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SUB- DOMAINS
The data center requirements and specifications are based on TIA 942 standard and shall facilitate
the conceptualization, design, development and management of government data centers.
▪ Data Center Site space and layout
▪ Environment and Ambience
▪ Tiered Reliability
▪ Cabling Infrastructure
REQUIREMENTS
Data Center Site Space and Layout
Data center space design should ensure an environmentally controlled space for the purpose of
housing equipment and cabling related to the data center and other telecommunications systems.
Ambience and Environmental Considerations

The data center should maintain ambient environment for maximum efficiency of the equipment
and power usage.
Cabling Infrastructure
Network Architecture is the design of the data center cabling system and equipment that ensures
high reliability, availability and efficient delivery of the data center services.
Tiered Reliability
Tiered reliability in the data center shall describe architectural, security, electrical, mechanical
and telecommunication reliability.
Sub domain description Requirement

This domain describes the requirements for location,
Site Space and Layout space, layout as well as protection against hazards for Annex A.1
the data center.
Tiered reliability in the data center shall describe
architectural, security, electrical, mechanical and
telecommunication reliability. This tier are based
on information from the uptime institute for a
Tiered Reliability Annex A.2
consortium dedicated to providing its members with
best practices and benchmark comparisons for
improving the design and management of the data
center.
The describes the requirement for data center so
Environmental
as to maintain ambient environment for maximum Annex A.3
Consideration
efficiency of the equipment and power usage.
This requirement specifies telecommunication cabling
Cabling Infrastructure Annex A.4
standards for a data center.
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ANNEXES
ANNEX A.1 Requirements for Data Center Site space and Layout
Subject Requirement
Site space ● A data center shall be designed with plenty of flexible
white space that can accommodate future racks or
cabinets.
● The space around the data center must also be
considered for future growth and planned for easy
annexation.
● Protection against hazards: The choice of the location,
civil works and other installation shall guard the data
center against disasters that are within human control
such as floods, fire etc. For requirement of this domain
refer to Annex
Functional area ● The data center shall have the following as the functional
area;
● Entrance Room
● Main Distribution Area (MDA)
● Horizontal Distribution Area (HDA)
● Zone Distribution Area (ZDA
● Equipment Distribution Area (EDA)
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Annex A.2: Tiered Reliability and Accessories
Parameter Requirement
Reliability All data centers shall fall under the four tiers as per TIA 942 Standard
that will be determined from Appendix 5
Structural The building structural system should be either steel or concrete. At a
Specifications minimum, the building frame should be designed to withstand wind loads in
accordance with the applicable building codes for the relevant institutions
charged with building approvals.
Truck Loading Truck loading docks shall be provided as required to handle anticipated
deliveries, and shall be provided with a level of security similar to the other
building entrances.
Staging Area Consideration shall be given to areas for equipment staging, secured
storage for valuable equipment, and for equipment burn-in and testing.
CCTV and Intruder The perimeter of the site should be protected by a microwave intruder
detection detection system and monitored by visible or infrared Closed Circuit
Television (CCTV) systems.
All common areas shall be monitored by cameras, including parking lots,
loading docks, and building entrances.
Access Control Access to the site should be secured by identification and authentication
systems.
Generator Every data center shall be supported by a generators and UPS System
and shall be designed to supply the harmonic current imposed by the UPS
system or computer equipment loads.
Periodic Testing All the components of the data centre shall be tested periodically once
the data center is in operation to ensure that they will continue to function
properly. The records for the test shall be kept always.
UPS A data center will have a UPS system that will serve as a ride through
before the generator starts. The UPS batteries should be able to support
.the computer systems for at least 1 hr.
Power Distribution All Data Centre shall have a Power Distribution Units (PDUs) for distribution
Units to critical electronic equipment in the data center.
Wrist Straps Wrist strap ports shall be attached to the rack by a means that ensures
electrical continuity to ground for static discharge
Fire Extinguishers All data centre shall at all times have adequate clean agent fire extinguisher
that avoids the dry chemical powder of ordinary ABC fire extinguishers,
which can impact associated equipment.
Fire Detection and A data Centre shall have fire detection and a clean agent fire suppression
Suppression System system that provides the highest level of protection for the computer
room and the associated electrical and mechanical rooms.
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Annex A.3: Cabling Infrastructure.
Backbone cabling All data centres shall use lazer-optimized 50 microns multimode fibre
for backbone cabling to support higher network speeds over longer
distances while being cost-effective
Horizontal cabling All data centers shall use the highest capacity media available as
recommended by IEEE 802.3 standards to reduce the need for re-
cabling in the future
Cabling management A data center shall be designed with separate racks and pathways for
each media type, and power and communication cables must be placed
with separate pathways or separated by a physical barrier.
Adequate space must be provided within and between racks and the
cabinet and in pathways for better cable management, bend radius
protection, and access.
Labeling There shall be maintained a labeling scheme for all racks, cabinets,
patch panels, patch cords and cables.
Power Cabling ● Branch circuits in data centers shall be in watertight flexible
metal conduit.
● Feeder circuits to power distribution units and panels shall be
installed in solid metal conduit.
● If the feeder circuits are not in solid metal conduit, they should
be in watertight flexible metal conduit.
● In data centers that use overhead cable trays, the normal
separation distances provided by standard practices provides
adequate separation. As specified in ANSI/TIA-569-B, a
minimum of 300 mm (12 in) access headroom between the top
of a tray or runway and the bottom of the tray or runway above
shall be provided and maintained.
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Telecommunication In data centers that employ access floor systems, adequate separation
cabling of power and telecommunications cabling can be accommodated
through the following measures:
● In the main aisles, allocate separate aisles for power and
telecommunications cabling, if possible;
● Where it is not possible to allocate separate aisles for power
and telecommunications cabling in the main aisles, then
provide both horizontal and vertical separation of power and
telecommunications cables. Provide horizontal separation
by allocating different rows of tiles in the main aisles for
power and telecommunications cabling, with the power and
telecommunications cables as far apart from each other as
possible.
● Additionally, provide vertical separation by placing the
telecommunications cabling in cable trays or baskets as far
above the power cables as possible, preferably with the top of
the cable tray or basket 20 mm (0.75 in) below the bottom of
the access floor tile;
- in the equipment cabinet aisles, allocate separate aisles for power
and telecommunications cabling.
Cable management Cables shall not be left abandoned under the access floor. Cables
shall be terminated on at least one end in the main distribution area
or a horizontal distribution area, or shall be removed.
Cables shall not be left abandoned in overhead cable trays. Cables
shall be terminated on at least one end in the main distribution area
or a horizontal distribution area, or shall be removed.
Planning of overhead cable trays for telecommunications cabling
should be coordinated with architects mechanical engineers, and
electrical engineers that are designing lighting, plumbing, air ducts,
power, and fire protection systems. Lighting fixtures and sprinkler
heads should be placed between cable trays, not directly above cable
trays.
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Annex A.4: Environment and Ambience
E.1: Contaminants The room shall be protected from contaminants in accordance with
ANSI/TIA-569-B.
Cooling ● There shall be adequate cooling equipments as well as raised
floor system for more flexible cooling.
● The cabinets and racks shall be arranged in an alternating
pattern to create hot and cold aisle.
● The air-conditioning system shall be designed to provide the
design temperature and humidity conditions recommended by
the manufacturers of the servers to be installed within the data
center
● A 24/7/365 dedicated HVAC system with automatic dampers and
connected to a backup generator
Power Power requirements will be based on the desired reliability tier as per
tiered reliability standard – Annex E.
Operational parameters The temperature and humidity shall be controlled to provide
continuous operating ranges for temperature and humidity.
HVAC System A data Center shall have a dedicated HVAC system that operates on a
24hours a day 365 days per year basis.
If cooling equipment, generators, fuel tanks, or access provider
equipment is situated outside the customer space, then this equipment
shall be adequately secured. Also, the data center owner will need
access to this space 24 hrs/day, 7 days/week.
Generator System The data Centre HVAC System shall be supported by a standby generator
system
Batteries Ventilation Where batteries are used for backup, adequate ventilation and spill
containment as required shall be provided
Vibrations The Building design shall guard against excessive computer room
vibration.
Fire Extinguishers The fire protection systems and hand-held fire extinguishers shall
comply with NFPA-75.
Paintings Floors, walls, and ceiling shall be sealed, painted, or constructed of a
material to minimize dust.
Lighting Finishes should be light in color to enhance room lighting. Floors shall
have anti-static properties as per IEC 61000-4-2.
Sprinkler System Sprinkler systems in computer rooms shall be pre-action systems.
Water Drainage Where risk of water ingress exists, a means of evacuating water from
the space shall be provided (e.g. a floor drain). Any water and drain
pipes that run through the room should be located away from and not
directly above equipment in the room.
Air Circulation Equipment should be placed in cabinets and racks with “cold” air
intake at the front of the cabinet or rack, and “hot” air exhaust out the
back.
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Panels Blank panels should be installed in unused rack and cabinet spaces to
improve the functioning of “hot” and “cold” aisles. Perforated access
floor tiles should be located in the “cold” aisles rather than in the “hot”
aisles to improve the functioning of the “hot” and “cold” isles.
Front Clearance A minimum of 1 m (3 ft) of front clearance shall be provided for
installation of equipment. A front clearance of 1.2 m (4 ft) is preferable
to accommodate deeper equipment. A minimum of 0.6 m (2 ft) of rear
clearance shall be provided for service access at the ear of racks and
cabinets. A rear clearance of 1 m (3 ft) is preferable. Some equipment
may require service clearances of greater than 1 m (3 ft). See
equipment manufacturer requirements.
Rack Height The maximum rack and cabinet height shall be 2.4 m (8 ft). Racks
and cabinets should preferably be no taller than 2.1 m (7 ft) for easier
access to the equipment or connecting hardware installed at the top.
Storage Room The data center should have an adequately sized storage room so that
boxed equipment, spare air filters, spare floor tiles, spare cables, spare
equipment, spare media, and spare paper can be stored outside the
computer room. The data center should also have a staging area for
unpacking and possibly for testing new equipment before deploying
them in the computer room. It is possible to dramatically reduce the
amount of airborne dust particles in the data center by having a policy
of un-packaging all equipment in the build/storage room.
Conformance of the The building where the data centre is is situated shall conform to all
building applicable national, state, and local codes.
Building Conformance Where the building is not dedicated to the data center, other tenant
spaces should be nonindustrial, International Building Code type
‘B’ offices, and non-intrusive to the data center. Avoid buildings with
restaurants and cafeterias to minimize fire risk.
If the data center is to be on an upper floor of a multi-tenant building,
then there should be adequate shaft and conduit space for generator,
security, telecommunications, and electrical conduits as well as
supplemental HVAC, grounding conductors and cabling to antennas, as
needed.
The building materials shall be non-combustible. Exterior walls shall
be constructed of concrete or masonry to provide security, particularly
in areas where brush fires may cause service outages or threaten the
structure.
The building hosting the data centre shall not be in the flight path of
any nearby airports. The building shall be no closer than 0.8 km (½
mile) from a railroad or major interstate highway to minimize risk of
chemical spills. The building shall not be within 0.4 km (¼ mile) of an
airport, research lab, chemical plant, landfill, river, coastline, or dam.
The building shall not be located adjacent to a foreign embassy The
building shall not be located in high crime areas.
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23
APPENDICES
Appendix 1: Compliance checklist for Site space and layout
Compliance Yes No Comment

Is the data center designed with flexible white space?
Has the space around the data center catered for future
growth?
Does the location, civil works and other installation guard
the data center against disasters that are within human
control such as floods, fire etc?
Does the data center have the following the functional
area; i) entrance room ;ii) Main Distribution Area (MDA) iii)
Horizontal Distribution Area (HDA), iv) Zone Distribution
Area (ZDA; iv) Equipment Distribution Area (EDA)
Appendix 2: Compliance checklist for Tiered reliability

According to TIA 942 where does the data
center fall?
Is the building structure steel or concrete?
Does the building provide for truck loading
docks to handle anticipated deliveries?
Is the level of security similar to the other
building entrance?
Is the perimeter of the data centre site
protected by a microwave intruder detection
system and monitored by visible or infrared
Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) systems.
Is the Perimeter of the data centre site
monitored by visible or infrared Closed
Circuit Television System?
Is access to the building secured by
identification and authentication system?
Is the data center supported by a generator
and UPS System?
Are all the components of the data centre
tested periodically?
Are the records for the test above kept?
Does the data center have a UPS system?
Do the UPS batteries be able to support
.the computer systems for at least 1 hr?
Does the Data Centre have a Power
Distribution Units (PDUs)?
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Are there wrist straps attached to the rack

by a means to ensure electrical continuity
to ground for static discharge is achieved?
Does the data centre have adequate clean
agent fire extinguishers?
Does the data centre shall have
fire detection and a clean agent fire
suppression system that provides the
highest level of protection?
Appendix 3: Compliance checklist for cabling Infrastructure

Does the data center use lazer-optimized
50 microns multimode fibre for backbone
cabling?
Does the data center use the Highest capacity
media available for horizontal cabling?
Is the data center designed with separate
racks and pathways for each media type,
and power and communication cables?
Is there adequate space provided within and
between racks, cabinets and in pathways for
better cable management?
Is there a labeling scheme for all racks,
cabinets, patch panels, patch cords and
cables?
Are ranch circuits in data centers in
watertight flexible metal conduit?
Are feeder circuits to power distribution
units and panels installed in solid metal
conduit
Are there any abandoned cables on the
floor?
Are cables terminated on at least one end
in the main distribution area or a horizontal
distribution area?
Are any cables left abandoned in overhead
cable trays
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Appendix 4: Compliance checklist for Environmental consideration

Is the room be protected from contaminants
in accordance with ANSI/TIA-569-B?
Is there adequate cooling equipments as
well as raised floor
Are the cabinets and racks arranged in an
alternating pattern to create hot and cold
aisle?
Are the power requirements based on the
tier requirement?(Annex E)
Is the temperature and humidity controlled
to provide continuous operating?
Does the Data Center have a dedicated HVAC
system that operates on a 24hours a day 365
days per year basis?
Where cooling equipment, generators, fuel
tanks, or access provider equipment is
situated outside the customer space, Is the
equipment adequately secured?
Does the data center owner have access to
this space 24 hrs/day, 7 days/week?
TIs the data Centre HVAC System supported
by a standby generator system
Where batteries are used for backup Is there
adequate ventilation and spill containment?
Is the fire protection systems and hand-held
fire extinguishers in compliance with NFPA-
75.
Is the floors, walls, and ceiling sealed,
painted, or constructed of a material that
minimize dust?
Is the data centre finishes in a light color to
enhance room lighting. ?
Is the sprinkler system in computer room a
pre-action system?
Where risk of water ingress exists, is there
a means of evacuating water from the space
provided (e.g. a floor drain).?
Where water and drain pipes exists, Are they
located away from and not directly above
equipment in the room?
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Are all equipment placed in cabinets and

racks with “cold” air intake at the front of
the cabinet or rack, and “hot” air exhaust
out the back?.
Are blank panels installed in unused rack and
cabinet spaces to improve the functioning of
“hot” and “cold” aisles
Is there a minimum of 1 m (3 ft) of front
clearance provided for installation of
equipment?
Are all rack or cabinet height a maximum 2.4
m (8 ft) and minimum 2.1 m (7 ft) for easier
access to the equipment or connecting
hardware installed at the top?
Does the building where the data centre is
situated conform to all applicable national,
state, and local codes?
Is the building materials non-combustible.
Is the building hosting the data centre on the
flight path, not closer than 0.8 km (½ mile)
from a railroad or major interstate highway
to minimize risk of chemical spills, not within
0.4 km (¼ mile) of an airport, research lab,
chemical plant, landfill, river, coastline, or
dam? Not be adjacent to a foreign embassy
The building shall not be located in high
crime areas.
APPENDIX 5: Tiered Reliability
• Tier 1 = Non-redundant capacity components (single uplink and servers).
• Tier 2 = Tier 1 + Redundant capacity components.
• Tier 3 = Tier 1 + Tier 2 + Dual-powered equipments and multiple uplinks.
• Tier 4 = Tier 1 + Tier 2 + Tier 3 + all components are fully fault-tolerant including uplinks,
storage, chillers, HVAC systems, servers etc. Everything is dual-powered.
Data Center Availability According To Tiers
The levels also describe the availability of data from the hardware at a location as follows:
• Tier 1: Guaranteeing 99.671% availability.

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Appendix 6: Related Documents
Code Number: Title

ICTA. 1.001: 2016 Government Enterprise Architecture
ICTA. 2.001: 2016 Infrastructure Standard (Networks, Cloud, End user Computing, Data
Centre)
ICTA. 3.001: 2016 Information Security Standard
ICTA. 4.001: 2016 Electronic Records and Data Management Standard
ICTA. 5.001: 2016 IT Governance Standard
ICTA. 6.001: 2016 Systems and Application Standard
ICTA.7.001:2016 ICT Human Capital and Work force Development Standard
www.icta.go.ke
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www.icta.go.ke
29
www.icta.go.ke
30
ICT Authority
Telposta Towers, 12th Floor, Kenyatta Ave
P.O. Box 27150 - 00100 Nairobi, Kenya
t: + 254-020-2211960/62
Email: info@ict.go.ke or communications@ict.go.ke or standards@ict.go.ke
Visit: www.icta.go.ke
Become a fan: www.facebook.com/ICTAuthorityKE

Follow us on twitter: @ICTAuthorityKE
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GOVERNMENT ICT STANDARDS

First Edition 2016

©ICTA 2016 All rights reserved

Data Centre Standard

ICTA STANDARDS DESCRIPTION

S/No Thematic Area Standards Brief Description

REVISION OF ICT STANDARDS

Document Name: Data Centre Standard

In pursuit of achievement of this mandate, the Authority established a Standards Committee to

Backbone cable: See backbone.

Common equipment room (telecommunications)

Entrance room or space (telecommunications)

Equipment cable; cord

Equipment distribution area

Equipment room (telecommunications):

Fiber optic: See optical fiber.

Point and the horizontal cross-connect

Horizontal distribution area

Main distribution area

Media (telecommunications): Wire, cable, or conductors used for telecommunications.

Multimode optical fiber

Optical fiber cable

Private branch exchange

Radio frequency interference

Screened twisted-pair (ScTP)

Sheath: See cable sheath

Single-mode optical fiber

Single mode optical fiber: see single-mode.

Telecommunications entrance point: See entrance point (telecommunications).

Telecommunications entrance room or space: See entrance room or space

Telecommunications equipment room: See equipment room (telecommunications).

Telecommunications infrastructure: See infrastructure (telecommunications).

Telecommunications media: See media (telecommunications).

Telecommunications space: See space (telecommunications).

Uninterruptible power supply

Zone distribution area

Ambience and Environmental Considerations

Sub domain description Requirement

● Main Distribution Area (MDA)

● Horizontal Distribution Area (HDA)

● Zone Distribution Area (ZDA

● Equipment Distribution Area (EDA)

Annex A.2: Tiered Reliability and Accessories

Annex A.3: Cabling Infrastructure.

Annex A.4: Environment and Ambience

Compliance Yes No Comment

Appendix 2: Compliance checklist for Tiered reliability

Compliance Yes No Comment

Are there wrist straps attached to the rack

Appendix 3: Compliance checklist for cabling Infrastructure

Compliance Yes No Comment

Appendix 4: Compliance checklist for Environmental consideration

Compliance Yes No Comment

Are all equipment placed in cabinets and

APPENDIX 5: Tiered Reliability

• Tier 1 = Non-redundant capacity components (single uplink and servers).

• Tier 2 = Tier 1 + Redundant capacity components.

• Tier 3 = Tier 1 + Tier 2 + Dual-powered equipments and multiple uplinks.

Data Center Availability According To Tiers

• Tier 1: Guaranteeing 99.671% availability.

• Tier 2: Guaranteeing 99.741% availability.

• Tier 3: Guaranteeing 99.982% availability.